Stafford Borough Council (19 018 173)

Category : Environment and regulation > Trees

Decision : Closed after initial enquiries

Decision date : 18 Mar 2020

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr and Mrs Q’s complaint about the accuracy of the Council’s records regarding a protected tree, or associated matters. This is because the injustice they have suffered is not significant enough to justify our involvement. And the Information Commissioner is better placed to deal with their request for documents.

The complaint

  1. The complainants, who I have called Mr and Mrs Q, complained about the actions of Stafford Borough Council. They said:
  • the Council failed to create an accurate record of their tree protection order (TPO) application;
  • the Council’s online records contain discrepancies; and
  • the Council has refused to answer their questions or provide the TPO documentation they asked for.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:
  • the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
  • there is another body better placed to consider this complaint.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

  1. I considered the information Mr and Mrs Q provided. I considered their response to a draft of this decision.

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What I found

Background

  1. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) considers complaints about freedom of information. So where we receive complaints about freedom of information, we normally consider it reasonable to expect the person to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner. She is better placed to consider complaints about a council’s refusal to provide documents.

What happened

  1. The trees on Mr and Mrs Q’s property are protected by a tree protection order. Several years ago, the Council gave them permission to remove and replace a dead and dangerous tree in their garden.
  2. More recently Mr and Mrs Q said they discovered the Council had failed to create an accurate record of their TPO. They also said they discovered the Council’s online records, including plans and drawings, do not accurately reflect the permission it gave them to remove the protected tree.
  3. In response to Mr and Mrs Q’s complaint, the Council told them it had no intention of pursuing legal action based on current circumstances.
  4. Mr and Mrs Q complained that the Council will not amend its records. They also complained that the Council has not answered all their questions about the matter and will not provide the TPO documentation they asked for.
  5. Mr and Mrs Q are concerned the records give the impression they removed the tree without appropriate permission. They sent us evidence of the Council’s permission to remove the tree as well as relevant plans and drawings.

Analysis

  1. We will not investigate this complaint.
  2. I recognise that the Council’s records may not fully represent the situation when Mr and Mrs Q applied for, and were granted, permission to remove their protected tree. However, the Council told them it did not intend to take any legal action against them. And, if the Council does decide to take action in the future, they have records which will easily demonstrate they had the appropriate permission to remove the tree. So the injustice Mr and Mrs Q have suffered because of the inaccurate records, as well as the Council’s alleged failure to answer their questions, is not significant enough to justify our involvement.
  3. It is open to Mr and Mrs Q to make a freedom of information request for the TPO documents they want the Council to provide. If they are unhappy with the Council’s response, they may then take the matter to the ICO. It is better placed to deal with this part of the complaint.

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Final decision

  1. We will not investigate this complaint for the reasons given in the Analysis.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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